Documentary series2026 · Globoplay
O Mistério de Varginha
Thirty years later, Globo revisits the case that left its mark on Varginha. The series hears from the three young women who gave the first account, in January 1996, and brings together never-before-released testimony, documents and audio. It shows the fear, the rumors and the different versions that went around town.
- Director
- Ricardo Calil and Paulo Gonçalves
- Running time
- 3 episodes (about 45 min each)
- Production
- Estúdios Globo, in co-production with EPTV
Why watch. A Brazilian production, in Portuguese, with never-before-heard testimony, such as a doctor who says he kept quiet for 30 years. It shows the case's impact on everyday life in the town.
Watch with a careful eye. Some of the testimony appears for the first time three decades after the case. The series itself acknowledges that nothing was proven scientifically. The 1997 military inquiry concluded that there had been a mistake.
Documentary2022
Filmmaker James Fox investigates the 1996 Varginha case. He talks to the young women who say they saw a creature, to residents and to researchers, among them nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman and Brazilian Air Force general José Carlos Pereira. The accounts describe a crashed object, a military cordon and the capture of beings.
- Director
- James Fox
- Running time
- 1 hr 48 min
Why watch. It brings a high-profile Brazilian case to an international audience. It gives the witnesses time, as they speak decades after the events. Good to compare with Globo's series on the same case.
Watch with a careful eye. The 1997 military inquiry concluded that the young women saw a local resident. At AIPT, Nathaniel Muir criticized the editing and pacing. An extended version with new testimony came out in 2025.
Documentary2022
Ariel Phenomenon
In September 1994, more than 60 students at a school in Ruwa, Zimbabwe, reported seeing objects land near the schoolyard and beings that came toward them. Director Randall Nickerson finds those children again as adults and brings back BBC footage and interviews by Harvard psychiatrist John Mack.
- Director
- Randall Nickerson
- Running time
- 1 hr 41 min
Why watch. Nickerson conducted 130 interviews with more than 40 former students and staff. The film focuses on the emotional weight of living through something almost nobody believes.
Watch with a careful eye. The Debrief's review missed dates on the interviews and details of the method. Skeptics propose mass hysteria, a prank or a mix-up with a dust devil.
Documentary2010
Westall '66: A Suburban UFO Mystery
Melbourne, April 1966. About 200 students, teachers and residents say they saw an object hover over the Westall school, land in a nearby field and disappear. Decades later, teacher Shane Ryan tracks down former students and staff to understand what happened and why the students were told to keep quiet.
- Director
- Rosie Jones
- Running time
- 49 min
- Production
- Carmel Mcaloon, with research by Shane Ryan; aired on Foxtel (Australia)
Why watch. A classic mass sighting at a school, told by witnesses who are now adults. The film became part of Australia's history curriculum as an exercise in critical analysis.
Watch with a careful eye. The accounts were only gathered systematically from the 2000s on. Researchers propose a high-altitude balloon as the explanation and warn that memories can get contaminated over decades.
Documentary2020
The Phenomenon
An overview of more than 70 years of sightings, from the postwar years to the U.S. Navy videos released by the Pentagon. It brings together witnesses to classic cases, military personnel, former U.S. government officials and journalists. It argues that the subject deserves serious scientific study.
- Director
- James Fox
- Running time
- 1 hr 41 min
- Production
- James Fox and Dan Farah; narrated by Peter Coyote
CasesKenneth Arnold sighting (Mount Rainier, Washington, USA · 1947)Roswell case (Roswell, New Mexico, USA · 1947)Lonnie Zamora case (Socorro, New Mexico, USA · 1964)Westall caseRendlesham Forest (Suffolk, England · 1980)Ariel School caseFLIR video (USS Nimitz) (Off the coast of California, USA · 2004)Gimbal and GoFast videos (USS Theodore Roosevelt) (Off the East Coast, USA · 2015) Why watch. It works as a map of the modern cases. A single film covers Ariel School, Westall, Socorro and Rendlesham, with witness accounts. Good for picking which story to dig into next.
Watch with a careful eye. The film argues a position and barely hears from skeptics. Roger Moore (Movie Nation) criticized the recycling of old evidence and the heavy reliance on reenactments. CNN's Brian Lowry found the tone overheated.
Dramatization1993
Fire in the Sky
Arizona, November 1975. A crew of loggers heading home from work say they saw a strange light in the forest. Travis Walton vanishes for five days, and his coworkers become suspects. The script adapts the book in which Walton recounts being taken aboard a craft.
- Director
- Robert Lieberman
- Running time
- 1 hr 49 min
- Production
- Joe Wizan and Todd Black; screenplay by Tracy Tormé; distributed by Paramount Pictures
CasesTravis Walton case (Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, near Heber, Arizona, USA · 1975)
Why watch. It shows the human side of an extraordinary account: the search, the polygraph, the suspicion of a crime and the town's distrust. Walton and his wife make a cameo.
Watch with a careful eye. The scenes aboard the craft barely resemble Walton's account. Executives found the original version dull. The director said he suspected a hoax. Skeptics question the polygraphs.
Dramatization1975
The UFO Incident
NBC TV movie about Betty and Barney Hill, a couple who reported an encounter in rural New Hampshire in 1961. Years later, in hypnosis sessions, the two describe being taken aboard a craft. James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons play the couple.
- Director
- Richard A. Colla
- Running time
- 98 min
- Production
- TV movie aired by NBC on October 20, 1975
CasesBetty and Barney Hill case (New Hampshire, USA · 1961)
Why watch. An adaptation of John G. Fuller's book about the couple. Watched alongside Fire in the Sky, it shows how abduction accounts made their way to TV and film.
Watch with a careful eye. The memories came out of hypnosis. Benjamin Simon, who ran the sessions, concluded it was a psychological aberration. Skeptics suggest a mix-up with an aviation beacon on Cannon Mountain.
